Not all rapes are equally serious

There’s a lot of hoo-hah and manufactured outrage at the moment about Ken Clarke’s badly-formed comments yesterday. I wish they’d give it a rest.

He’s right that there’s a world of difference between the rape of a woman (or man) dragged off the street by a stranger and illicit sex between two consenting parties where one is under-age. Perhaps if we had a distinct Statutory Rape law, as they do in the States, we wouldn’t have this confusion.

It’s certainly not something Clarke should resign over – he should resign because he’s continuing the policies of the last government in closing down prisons, reducing sentences for a guilty plea and giving murderers and rapists early release.

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."